A Light in The World

What does it take

to be A Light in the World,

to accept the sacred invitation

to truly make flesh The Word?

A sprawling, often lonely,

task

that will inevitably

ask

the removal of all human

masks.

There’s no hiding,

only faithfully abiding;

Seeing the world

differently;

expanding consciousness to foreign

possibilities,

such as loving all brothers

unconditionally.

One will need to forgive,

to always relieve grievances.

No space for judgment and blame,

for pettiness and thoughts criminally insane.

Only the remembrance that we are all

fundamentally

the same.

A formidable call

to be A Light in The World,

to sow seeds of peace

in the Minds of the All.

Not for the faint-hearted, this role.

Indeed, many flounder and fall,

the ones who think themselves insignificant

and very small,

who know not how

to stand erect and tall.

Much is given to A Light in the World.

This path, once chosen,

one does not walk alone.

Vision, wisdom and extraordinary might,

all bequeathed to A Light,

all needed to keep up the human fight

that rages

within and without

day and night.

A Light

ultimately

returns home, to Love

remembers its function

is guided

only

by things holy and Above.

Monday

It is Monday,

a blank page,

a clean slate.

The day to exfoliate,

slough off the old skin,

the things that weigh down

and only deaden.

It is Monday,

the start of a new week,

bringing with it

opportunities to seek

the Light and beauty

in all we meet.

It is Monday,

a day of reflection

to answer the questions

for self-manifestation.

We ponder in silence

asking our God for His Guidance.

My Lord,

what to sow?

who to know?

when to go?

where to grow?

why so slow?

It is Monday,

the time to do over

to try again

for that four-leaf clover.

Another chance

to alter one’s circumstance,

to self-enhance

and awake from long trance.

Stone Beach

A new treat,

this here, Stone Beach.

Butterflies,

Dragonflies.

With a gentle sweet high,

I am kissing

the brilliant

baby blue sky.

Seagulls,

Marigolds.

I am embraced by the sea’s

gentle pull.

Driftwood,

Seashells.

I fall deeply into

water’s seductive spell.

Inhaling deeply,

I take in the air’s

musky salinity,

mix it with Earth’s grassy femininity.

Senses heightened,

I hear the waves,

my ancestors guiding me

from the grave.

I feel the wind

nibble my skin,

tempering

the sun’s bite and sting.

A Spirit

to me

suddenly

begins to sing.

Inspiration heralding

the birth of another offspring.

Eleven Years

On the sixth day in the month of September of the year 2005:

A cell phone rings.

“It is your father,”

says the somber mother

to the busy daughter.

“He has been taken

to hospital…a stroke.”

 

Eleven years ago,

my Pop transitioned;

he left body

and went to Heaven.

One is never prepared for death-

especially that of a parent.

You know it will come eventually,

makes sense intellectually;

a matter to run from emotionally.

The day before he was to die,

he kept calling my cell line.

Over and over, he tried.

too tired and busy was I.

“I’ll call him tomorrow,”

I thought, fully justified;

not knowing he would not then

be alive.

Did Pop sense

his time had come?

Is there something he needed to tell

his eldest one?

What did I miss in

missing his call?

Did he go

thinking

I cared not at all?

Along with grief,

from guilt I found little relief.

Over and over,

in my mind,

I wrestled with my use of time.

Questioned my responsibilities:

Were they aligned with my priorities?

Eleven years later,

older,

a tad wiser,

I can begin

to myself forgive.

We do our best

in the moments we live.

Perfection, not the final goal.

Missteps, falls –

a part of it all.

Lessons learned

in his life and death-

Thank you Father!

No more regrets.

 

 

 

Au Cœur

Walking around

the City streets,

this piece of graffiti

I repeatedly meet.

It reads

to me:

Protect your Heart.

“Why?”

I wonder.

“Is such a thing

even possible?”

I ponder.

Is not

The Heart

meant

to be used,

broken open

and well spent?

Le Cœur,

it will never relent,

nor exhibit

sustained discontent,

doing that

for which

it was sent.

The grand design,

the clear intent

for us to be truly,

in life, content.

Strong and resilient,

The Heart,

also very smart,

crafted this way

from the very start.

Unlike a piece

of rare fine art,

The Heart

is not made

to be placed

on a wall

deemed too delicate

to fall.

No, no, no, no, no!

Not at all!

I contend

to me and friends:

Lay bare,

Le Cœur,

even as scared,

it’ll take you there,

that place,

that divine space

where only

COURage makes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Salutations

Dawn of a new day-

hooray!

Awake!

Give thanks!

Pray!

As within,

so without.

Morning meditations

strengthen thy House.

No perceived stress felt.

Mind, heart, body –

all aligned,

all in exquisite rest.

Work flows smoothly.

Everything moves so easily.

All that is seen is beauty,

even in this, the

big

busy

City.

No cacophony,

just sweet melodies.

No hurry,

only curiosity.

Frowns turned upside down;

smiles abound.

Gratitude, shared and found.

I see you, you see me.

Namaste,

we are a family!

No self-recrimination,

no regrets;

only admission

one did one’s best.

And so,

the stage is set

for when

dusk is met.

Peaceful sleep

will thee meet

with this day complete.

 

Deep calls unto Deep

such is when

Kindreds meet.

Deep calls unto Deep

when one cannot sleep

there is a yearning

as one is tossing

and turning.

Inside,

the child weeps.

Deep calls unto Deep

A dearly departed

snatches your heart,

tears it tenderly apart,

then captures your Soul

to make forever

free and bold.

Deep calls unto Deep

A majestic old tree,

an elephant resplendent

in its quiet dignity,

wondrous seas,

birth of little babies,

the birds and the bees.

All miracles,

they are

as the moon and the stars.

Look up and about,

Nature beseeches,

life so sweet

and utterly brief.

Deep calls unto Deep